Government’s Home Improvement Programme Helps More Than 150 Households

On Feb 1, 2017

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Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 01, 2017 (SKNIS): More than 150 households in St. Kitts and Nevis have received a helping hand from the Ministry of Human Settlement through its HELP programme, which undertakes home improvement projects for persons with lower incomes.

HELP is implemented by the National Housing Corporation (NHC) and was hailed by the Minister of Human Settlement, Honourable Eugene Hamilton, for the good it has done to improve the standard of living for residents. He said elevating persons is at the core of government’s policies and programmes.

“This government in its manifesto outlined a $500 contribution to those households [earning] less than $3000,” the minister said, referring to the pre-election document for 2015-2020. “This programme is designed to fall in that category.

“If you get a grant under this programme of $10,000 … that’s $500 for 20 months,” Honourable Hamilton added. “So when you put your application in and get it approved, consider that it is part of the overall responses by the government to provide those persons with income less than $3000, some support.”

While presenting at a recent “Good Governance and Accountability for Prosperity” town hall meeting, Minister Hamilton stated that the programme was designed to assist “persons who had real challenges getting financing” to do projects like repairing a leaking roof, “or where they had no water in their homes or bathroom facilities and put bathrooms in and so on.”

The NHC has received quite a bit of applications, even from individuals whose income is more than $4000 to $6000 per month. The minister of human settlement said these persons “should not” apply. He added that government has spent almost $950,000 on the programme and was “confident that the Cabinet will give support to continue this programme for the next year or so.”